Welsh rider Thomas wins Tour de France

Geraint Thomas won his first Tour de France title on Sunday, concluding his transformation from a support rider into a champion of cycling’s biggest race. The Welsh rider with Team Sky successfully defended his lead of 1 minute, 51 seconds over second-placed Tom Dumoulin in the mostly ceremonial final stage around the Champs-Elysees in Paris. Four-time champion Chris Froome, Thomas’s teammate, finished third, 2:24 behind, and rode next to Thomas as they crossed the line, with Froome applauding. Thomas was a support rider during Froome’s four victories but he emerged as Sky’s strongest rider in this race when Froome crashed early on and couldn’t keep up in the mountains.

❚ American Lawson Craddock finished last out of 145 cyclists who completed the 2,082-mile Tour de France. He finished the 21-stage race in 87 hours, 51 minutes, 32 seconds, earning him the title of lanterne rouge, the last rider to complete the Tour in overall time. He was about 4 hours, 34 seconds behind winner Geraint Thomas. The 26-year-old from Houston raised more than $197,000 for Alkek Velodrome, which suffered damage during Hurricane Harvey last year. The total through Sunday afternoon was approaching double his goal of $102,100.